Often to the sons of Esau in
my messages, and I wanted to have Brother Mike read that again
because it had been a while, and for those of you who have
never heard that, it is the thing that sets us
apart. Everything, everything there
is, all things, Including the wicked will glorify our Lord
Jesus Christ in His day. That's what Scripture tells us.
All things will glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. I'd like to ask
you to turn in your Bibles to this 23rd Psalm, if you would. And that very poem points us
to that very fact, that even the sons of Esau will glorify
the Lord, even if what it is is that they serve the younger. Think of how many Esau's are
doctors that have come up with cures or medications or whatever. How many sons of Esau have invented
the wheel? The one with rubber on it. That's
what we're talking about. God uses everything. When He
says that all things are for the good to those that love Him,
to those who are called, He's not just talking about this or
that. He's talking about everything.
He says all things, all the good stuff and all the bad stuff.
It's all for our good. It's all for our purpose. And
it will glorify him in the end. You ever heard the phrase alpha
male? Now, you women, hold on just a moment. I know some women
who are alpha, too. So don't think I'm just going
to talk to the men here today. This is a message for everyone.
Alpha male, someone who Takes charge, steps up to the plate, quick to say we need this done,
we need that done, whatever, to guide, to lead. That's kind of the kind of guy
John Reeves has been all these years. I was, I fit right into
management at the company I used to work for. If you were to question
anybody that worked for me, they'd tell you I was kind of the worst
guy in the world to work for, because I expected you to work
as I would do. And if you don't work the way
I do, then I would be all over you. So there was some confrontation
with that in many ways. But that's kind of who John Reeves
is. He was an alpha male. So when
I came and heard the word of God, and heard God's people referred
to as sheep, I thought to myself, what do you mean, sheep? I'm
not following anybody around. But then as the Lord began to
work in my heart and show me that, yeah, we are sheep, his people. We may have acted like goats.
We may have acted like alpha males and alpha females. But
when it comes right down to it, our God rules everything. He
is sovereign over every single little detail. Period. If He's
not, then He's not God. And you can't call him God if
he doesn't rule all things. These little teeny gods that
man wants to make up with their imagination. This little God
that maybe rules part of this but allows some of that. And
you can frustrate that God by doing this or whatever. The Greek
gods. Think of how many, oh, I've frustrated the gods and
my gods and now they're punishing me and stuff like that. I mean,
that's what their little gods are. My God isn't frustrated
by anything. It's exactly the way he wants
it to happen. He's the creator of it all. Could
it be anything less? Sheep are known for their desire
to be led. It's their nature. If they're not tended to, they
will scatter and not return. Have you ever seen one of those
programs where they have competition and people You show up with your
dogs and they've got to corral the sheep, you know, with just
the dog. The guy stands over there, does a whistle or says
a word, and the dog runs out and corrals the sheep up. It's
kind of interesting to watch that. Sheep, man, they know how
to mind real good. They follow every little move.
That dog, he sits down, the sheep know what's going to happen next,
and they'll go and do what they're supposed to do. Are you with me in the 23rd Psalm? Look at verse 1. Well, it would
help if I get there first. There we go. The Lord is my shepherd. That's the title for today's
message. My Shepherd. Chronicles 18 verse 16 it says,
then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains
as sheep that have no shepherd. That's the way each and every
one of us were before the gospel was applied to our hearts. We acted like goats, but we were
sheep scattered, wandering around out there trying to be the best
goat we could. Until the day the Lord showed
us that we were sheep. And we needed guidance from one
who gives the best guidance of all. This was what my life was
like before the Lord called me. Wondering about, thinking that
I was on a road of my own choosing. Making my own destiny as it were.
Famous saying from Scarface, the world was mine for the taking. You see, the word shepherd implies
one who is a caretaker, one who will lead the flock. In the 80th
Psalm, verse 1, it says, give ear, O shepherd of Israel. Thou that leadest Joseph like
a flock, thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. Give ear, O Lord, Abba, Father. Before we get too deep, though,
into this shepherd. Notice the writer of our text
says, my shepherd. This is what I want to bring
out to you this morning. Many know the great shepherd. Many have what is called a zeal
for Christ. But they come up short on a personal
relationship. I guarantee you the Pope The
head of the Catholic Church knows more about Scripture than I will
ever learn in my entire life. He can quote all kinds of Scripture
right off the top of his head, and there are thousands of men
out there who can do that. They have a great knowledge of
God's Word, but they have no idea what it is to have a shepherd. the great ship. They come up short of a personal
relationship, the one that Christ the Lord has with his chosen
people. In the 10th chapter of Romans, verse 1, it says, Brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel, for the people
of God, for all of the people of God, is that they might be
saved. That's what picture is that Israel
is. It's a picture of God's people. Paul writing to the Romans, Brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God is for Israel, that they
might be saved, for I bear them record that they have a zeal
of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness, they have a knowledge of the word of God, All those
guys, the Jewish rabbis, they would spend every moment of their
day awake with the scrolls, reading through the scrolls. Paul himself
had that great zeal for Christ, for God, through the Word of
God. He knew all the Scriptures, but
he didn't know Christ. Not until the Lord Jesus called
him on the road to Emmaus. Not until the Lord called John
Reeves. Did I know who Jesus was in a
personal way? To know that we are sinners,
sinners before a holy God, even the best that we have is not
good enough. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness, the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
very righteousness that every one of us who belong to the Lord
Jesus can claim as our own. Because He took our sins upon
Himself. He was made to be sin for us. That we would be righteous in
Him. Ignorant of God's righteousness.
Ignorant of Christ Jesus. And going about to establish
their own righteousness. That's what works is. That's
what free will is. That's what all the things that
we think we must do. My granddaughter came to me and
she said, Grandpa, I'm sorry, I wasn't at church last weekend.
And I stopped her, well, actually, it was a couple days later, I
came to her, I said, I need to talk to you about that. And I'm talking
to you folks right now. You don't have nothing to be
sorry to me forever, unless you do something to my wife or my
children. You have no reason to come to
me and ask for my forgiveness for not being here on a Sunday.
That's between you and God. If God wants you here, he'll
bring you. I'm just a man. You got nothing
to reason to be sorry. She said, I'm sorry, Grandpa,
that I couldn't be at church. You don't have to be sorry, sweetie.
You're exactly where God wants you to be. Our God is sovereign
over everything. They go about establishing their
own righteousness. And they have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God. You know, the devils know who
Christ is, right? They were talking to the Lord,
and the Lord had just extradited them out of this man. And they
said, who are you to come to us? Or actually, he said this
before he told them to get out. Why have you come to us before
our time? They knew who the Lord Jesus
Christ was. And then they asked Him for the
permission. Can we at least go into these pigs over here? Okay,
go. That's the power of God. The
devils know who Christ is. But they know nothing of the
mercy of God to His people. We have a Savior. We have one who is merciful to
a people. Instead of getting rid of everything
and starting all over, our Lord, in His wisdom, has chosen a people
unto Himself. He calls them My elect. They will be My people and I
will be their God. Salvation is a personal experience
of the heart. One who has been loved from before
the world was by God the Creator will experience the new birth.
Our Lord said you must be born again. Is there anybody here
who had anything to do with their birth? No, there's not. You can't. You must be born again. One who has been loved from before
the world was, by God the Creator, will experience new birth. New
wine cannot be put in an old flask. The residue will contaminate
it. In Ephesians 2.1 it says, and
you hath he quickened, you hath he made alive, who are dead in
trespasses and sins. In Colossians 2.13 it says, and
you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all
trespasses. The new birth comes from Christ
Jesus, God Almighty, in His throne. When one has had the old stony
heart, that rebellious heart removed, that heart that said,
I will not have the Christ of glory ruling over me. That's
what free will is. Free will is one who says, I'll
decide when you'll rule over me. When you've had that old stony
heart removed and cast away, God moves in and He creates a
new man in us. A new flask to hold new wine. Those for whom God the Father
gave to God the Son will call the Lord. We'll call Jesus the
Lord, my shepherd. It's all about your heart. And the heart makes it personal.
The Lord is my shepherd. He's not a shepherd. He's the
one who guides me in every step that I take. He either allows
me to step in it, Which means I'm just getting
dirty, it doesn't mean I'm dying. Or he allows me to walk the way
he wants to. We're reading in the book of
Samuel, David, the story of David. David has gone out, sent his
men out to a rich man, one that he had helped at one time. This
is during a time when David is being chased by the king, Saul. Saul wants to kill him because
he's jealous of him. David sent his men out and this
man named Nabal refused to help them after David had helped them.
So David gathered up his men in anger, was going to go and
destroy the family of Nabal. Our Lord was guiding David exactly
how he wanted him to. David was on his way to take
out the family when the wife Abigail came out and stopped
him. Which is another, God was guiding that woman to come out
and stop David. Another point, David, in today's
lesson, walks right into the camp of Saul. and everybody was
put to sleep, our God was guiding David's footsteps right there
too. The Lord is my shepherd. We turn
all of our cares and wants over to Him, simply trusting every
day, trusting through the stormy way, even when my faith is small,
trusting Jesus. That is all. That's something
we have to learn, isn't it? We put all of our trust in Him.
Are you still with me in Psalms? Let's continue reading. I shall
not want, it says. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. When the world rises up against
me, when my boss sends me somewhere that I didn't want to go, When
the leaders of this country do things that anger us, it is our
Lord, our shepherd, who maketh us to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. The very idea that we know who
God is in a personal way brings peace to our hearts. It stills
the waters that are in our life, the storms, the waves are calm. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth
me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no
evil. For thou art with me, thy rod
and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of my enemies, Thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. Surely goodness will be mine
even in the times of chaos and turmoil that surrounds me in
this world. I was reminded in a conversation
last night, our God rules. That's what the
people of God want to hear. We have enough stirring up our
minds. We have enough coming at us from all sides, telling
us that they're doing this to stir us up and bring anger. What
people of God want to hear? is our God rules. Even that stuff. Even that stuff that's going
on in the world around us that disturbs us. Our God rules. We put all of our trust in Him. Our great God cannot make an
error. He doeth all things well. Right? In Hebrews 13.20 it says,
Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord
Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood
of the everlasting covenant, He make you perfect in every
good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing
in His sight, through Jesus Christ to whom be the glory forever
and ever. Amen. Turn to the 10th chapter of John
if you would. Christ the Lord is a great shepherd
indeed. As the God-man, could He be anything
less than great? Could He be anything less than
perfect? Could He be anything less than
right? In Isaiah 40.10, it says, Behold, the Lord God will come
with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him. Our Lord
Jesus is known as the arm of God. Behold, His reward is with
Him and His work is before Him. He shall feed His flock like
a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
His arm and carry them in His bosom and shall gently lead those
that are with young. In Jeremiah 31, we read, Hear
the word of the Lord, O you nations, and declare in the isles afar
off and say, He that scattered Israel will gather Him and keep
Him as a shepherd doth his flock." My Lord, my Great Shepherd, can
you say that about God? Can you say that about the Lord
Jesus? Is He your Great Shepherd? Oh, the Lord is my Shepherd,
I shall not want. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob
and ransomed him. from the hand of him that was
stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and
sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together in the goodness
of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, for the young
of the flock and of the herd, and their souls shall be as a
water garden, and they shall not sorrow any more at all. The
Lord of all creation does as he sees fit, and he does it right. and pure and righteous in every
way, and that includes choosing his elect. That includes choosing
Jacob. One more verse before I join
you in John, Matthew 25, 31. It says, When the Son of Man
shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him,
then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory, and before Him
shall be gathered all the nations, and He shall separate them one
from another. As a shepherd divideth his sheep
from the goats. That's God's Word. We read about
how the Lord loved one and hated the other before they were even
born. Election goes throughout the scripture, folks. Israel
was chosen by God to be a picture of his people. Not the rest of
the world, not Egypt, not Persia, not any of the other places,
Israel. Election is throughout scripture. And he shall set the sheep on
his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the king
say unto them on his right hand, come, ye blessed of my father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. In Ephesians chapter 1, he tells
us we were predestinated from the foundation of the world.
Folks, our great shepherd cannot fail. Do you believe? Do you believe that? This is
his word. The Lord Jesus is the way and
the truth, and no man cometh unto Him but by the Father. Our
Lord gives a parable to be an example right here in John chapter
10 verse 1. Verily I say unto you, he that
entereth not by the door into the sheepfold but climbeth up
some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. If you come to God any other
way besides through the mercy and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
then you are a thief and a robber. If you come to the Lord by your
free will, or by getting baptized, or by worshiping on Saturday,
or anything else that you can think of, you are a thief. You're
stealing the glory of God. But he that entereth in by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name,
and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his
own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, and
they know his voice. And a stranger will they not
follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of
a stranger." This parable, verse 6, spake
Jesus unto them. But they understood not what
things they were which He spake to them. And then Jesus made
it very clear. Just as He comes to each and
every one of His children. In a day when you may not have
understood what the gospel was all about, all of a sudden the
Lord made it clear to your heart All of a sudden, you knew the
person you were hearing about was God Almighty. Our Creator. Perfect and holy in every way.
Our Lord opened your heart that day to hear the truth. He was leading you that very
moment, just as He has led you all the way. All the way, my
Savior leads me. Then said Jesus, verse 7, unto
them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the
sheep. Only one way to God, folks, and
that's through our Lord Jesus. I am the door of the sheep. All
that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the
sheep did not hear them. I am the door by me if any man
enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find
pastor. The thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill
and to be destroyed. I have come that they might have
life and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the
good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. He not only guides us in our
steps, he came and became the substitute for us. He paid the
price. He gave his life that we might
live. But he that is a hireling, and
not the shepherd, whose own sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming,
and he leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth
them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because
he is a hireling, and careth not for the sheep. And hear what
the word of the Lord says next. May God place this in your heart. Verse 14, I am the good shepherd,
and know my sheep. and am known of mine. As the
Father knoweth me, even so I the Father. And I lay down my life
for the sheep, and the other sheep I have which are not of
this fold. Them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice,
and they shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth
my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take
it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down myself.
I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my Father. Now if you would turn over to
1 Peter chapter 2 and I'll bring this to an end. 1 Peter 2, look at verse 11, will
you? Remember when we talked about me becoming the pastor,
I told you, I'm not here to tell you how
to live. I'm not here to tell you you have to be in church
every Sunday. God will do that for His people. I know, I've seen in many cases,
in many cases of my own, where our God has done a work in one
who has gone astray and that person could no longer do it,
or I could no longer do it. If you're a child of God, you
know what I'm saying. You know what I'm saying when the Lord
convicts your heart about what it is you're doing. God will teach us what to do
through his word, and he will make it effectual in our hearts.
Here our Lord tells us, dearly beloved, I beseech you, now he's
speaking through the prophet Peter, as strangers and pilgrims abstain
from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. Having your conversation honest
among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers,
they may be your good works, which they shall behold. Glorify
God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves to every ordinance
of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be the King, or as the Supreme,
or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by Him, for the
punishment of evildoers and for the praise of them that do well.
For so is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to
silence the ignorance of foolish men, as free and not using your
liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honor
all men, love the brotherhood. Fear God, honor the king. Servants,
be subject unto you, masters with all fear, not only the good
and gentle, but also to the forward. For this is thankworthy if a
man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it when ye
be buffeted for your faults? Ye shall take it patiently. But
if when you do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently,
this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called,
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example. that ye should follow his steps.
Speaking of Christ who did no sin, neither was guile found
in his mouth." Did you ever stop to think for a moment on how
the Lord did not say a word in that court? What you and I today would probably
call a monkey court. A bunch of monkeys up there charging
him with nothing, making up all kinds of stuff about him. He
did not say a word. He kept His peace because He
had to go to that cross. He who did no sin, neither was
any guile found in His mouth. Verse 23, who when He was reviled,
reviled not again. When He suffered, He threatened
not, but committed Himself to Him that judges righteously.
who is His own self, bear our sins in His own body on the tree
that we, being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness by whose
stripes ye are healed. And here's what I want to close
with, verse 25. For ye, for us, For each and every one of us,
and every one of God's people who have ever walked this earth,
for ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the
shepherd and bishops of your soul. We're just as the goats, folks.
We were at one time sheep, yes, but acting as goats going astray
from our creator. Who makes one to differ from
another? Who made those twins in the womb
of that woman to differ? God does. And he does it perfectly. And
righteously. In every way. The one who made
me to differ is my great shepherd. Jesus Christ the Lord. I am thine,
O Lord. Lead me in thine ways. Would
you stand with me, please?